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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Today in Labor History: April 21

Friedrich Froebel, 1897

April 21, 1782—Friedrich Froebel was born. Froebel
was a German pedagogue who coined the term “kindergarten” and produced the
first educational toys, known as Froebel Gifts. Froebel was one of the first to
recognize of the importance of activity and play in early childhood (Freiarbeit, or free work), as well as
the notion that one learns by doing. Thus, kindergarten was not simply a poetic
“garden” of children, but a literal garden for them to observe and interact
with the natural world. Froebel’s kindergartens were suppressed by the Prussian
government for its supposed denigration of religion and politics. He rejected
the notion of original sin and promoted and practiced the coeducation of boys
and girls. He also felt children should be able to grow and develop without the
influence of arbitrary political and social priorities—ideas that would endear
him to anarchists like Francisco Ferrer and others in the Modern School
movement. (For more on Froebel, click here)

April 21, 1834
– 30,000 marched for the freedom of trade unionists transported to
Australia from Tolpuddle, Britain. The Tolpuddle struggle, which began
in 1832, for the repeal of the “Combination Laws,” marked the beginning
of British trade unionism. (From the Daily Bleed)

Caricature of the Bonnot Gang

Victor Serge

April, 21, 1913 –Andre Soudy and Raymond Callemin, members of the anarchist Bonnot Gang, were executed. Callemin had started the individualist paper "L'anarchie" with Victor Serge. The
Bonnot Gang was a band of French anarchists (plus Serge, who was
Russian) who tried to fund their movement through robberies in
1911-1912. The Bonnot Gang was unique, not only for their politics, but
for their innovative use of technology, too. They were among the first
to use cars and automatic rifles to help them steal, technology that
even the French police were not using. While many of the gang members
were sentenced to death, Serge got five years and eventually went on to participate in (and survive) the Barcelona and Soviet uprisings. Later, while living in exile, Serge wrote The Birth of Our Power. (From the Daily Bleed and Wikipedia)